Located above fashionable Camps Bay and designed by a leading South African architect, this pad is made up of a main house with five double bedrooms and a penthouse with two doubles, and can be rented separately or as a whole. Inside the main house are sleek Philippe Starck-designed furnishings, while outside there's a lush patio, barbecue and pool with jaw-dropping views of Lion's Head Mountain. Meanwhile, the penthouse has a wraparound balcony with a plunge pool and equally knock-out views.

Stay there 00 27 0 83 719 5735; lionsview.co.za; from £351 per night for the penthouse only, including maid service.

Eco-friendly, seriously stylish and with Venice Beach and Abbot Kinney Boulevard right on their doorstep, these three solar-powered urban retreats tick all the boxes. Each sleeps just two people: choose from the sleek Le Bébé Cottage, with its baroque Paris feel (there's even a bright-red birdcage reborn as a swivel chair); Aunt Zoe's Place, decorated like a 1940s lakeside cabin, with restored farm sinks and stained-glass windows; and Papa Hemmingway Cottage, designed like a wilderness lodge.

Very cool and very classy, this apartment occupies the entire first floor of an elegant French-style embassy building from the 1920s, which has been transformed into one of the most stylish places to stay in the city by its owner, a Milan-based interior designer. Mixing classic modern furniture with retro design, the apartment has two double bedrooms, one with a wall covered in Andy Warhol's "Campbell's Soup Can" prints, and a spacious lounge with more pop art paintings and a big sink-into sofa. The location is spot on, too – in the Recoleta neighbourhood, which is known for its lovely squares, parks, cafés and galleries.

Located on the top floor of a stately building, with sweeping cityscape views, this four-bedroom apartment is a perfect escape from the buzz of the city below, but is perfectly located for exploring the nearby Centro. It is decorated in a homely, contemporary style, mixing Latin American folk art pieces and floor-to-ceiling windows in the spacious living/ dining room with lots of fresh flowers and stacks of magazines. Sit back on the terrace, filled with tropical plants including banana trees, and soak up the city views.

Situated in an 1850s New York brownstone (town house) in Manhattan's East Village, this collection of four apartments and one penthouse is as close to home-from-home as you'll find in the Big Apple. Each apartment is individually designed – one is decorated like an Indian boudoir (sleeps up to four), another has an oriental feel with Japanese "shoji" sliding doors (sleeps up to six), while the penthouse has its own roof garden (sleeps up to nine). They can be rented individually or as a whole (sleeping 16) – perfect for a New York family get-together.

Not so much an apartment as a stunning private house. Located in the Mouassine area of the medina, close to the King's Palace, it mixes original features and rich local fabrics with modern European ornaments and huge street-artist paintings. It has four airy bedrooms, sleeping eight – each filled with plush Moroccan carpets, antique chests and with gorgeous en-suite bathrooms – which open out on to a central, open-roofed courtyard with two fountains. Enjoy a mint tea on the terrace, have a dip in the pool, or be pummelled to your heart's content in your own hammam [steam bath].Trained masseurs can be arranged. There's also a resident Berber cook.

Stay there 07785 996629; darmusique.com; whole house from £300 per night/£1,000 per week, including breakfast (other meals by arrangement).

Set among tall palms and frangipani in the grounds of a 100-year-old aristocratic house on the Chao Phraya river, these four apartments feel more akin to one of Thailand's tropical islands. All sleep two: choose from the Riverside Villa (the most spacious), the Garden Suite, the split-level Chinese suite and the Thai House, an old wooden building brought down from Ayutthaya. The cottages share a pool, and if you don't feel like cooking, dinners can be arranged around low, candle-lit tables in the riverside pavilion.

Located in harbourside Potts Point, this one-bedroom apartment sleeping two makes for a convenient and stylish base for exploring the city. It takes up the entire first floor of an elegant, listed 1891 town house, and has lofty 12ft-high ceilings, which give it an airy feel despite the lack of air con (open the French doors for harbour breezes). It is homely yet chic, with Tasmanian oak flooring, café latte-coloured walls and a series of colourful photographs taken by one of the owners. Kick back after a day's sightseeing on the white chaise longue tucked into the bay window in the sitting room, or on the balcony with views of Woolloomooloo Wharf and the Harbour Bridge.

Located on the upper floors of the Time Place Tower, in the heart of Dubai Marina, one of the best things about this apartment is its spectacular cityscape views. It has one bedroom, plus a sofa bed and foldaway single bed (sleeping up to five in total) and is elegantly furnished – cool, white-tiled floors, smart leather sofas and walls covered with modern art. Round off a shopping spree with a visit to the tower's communal spa and sauna, or just sit back on your balcony and enjoy that awesome view.

Just a cocktail stick's throw from Ipanema's beachfront, and reached by its own private lift, this three-bedroom penthouse mixes cool Italian marble floors, long white sofas and cowhide rugs with local artwork and 70s furniture. As well as three sleek double bedrooms, a large open-plan living area and bar, it has its own DJ booth and rooftop terrace with a sauna and pool – perfect for taking in the views of Rio's twin peaks (Dois Irmãos) with a Sundowner.

Stay there i-escape.com/ipanemapenthouse.php; from €400 per night, including maid service. Special offer of seven nights for the price of five (valid until 31 March 2011).